[Wurlitzer]

"It's more than numbers. These are calls. And that is data that should only be provided to the government with a subpeona or some kind of due process."

The point DB I was trying unsuccessfully to make is that without any further investigation the numbers (calls if you like) only generate patterns and are not specific to any US Citizen. If we were discussing Credit Cards there is a much stronger linkage to actual person vs card number and you and I would be in complete agreement.

I have worked in printing for 26 years and know all about data mining in mail lists. I had access to the inner workings of Reader's Digest and their huge subscriber database. I too know the dangers of excessive data in the wrong hands.

However, that being said, I still do not see the evil bogey man behind our government looking for calling patterns and then and only then using the limited powers allowed by the former Constitution to convert a totally anonymous phone number to an actual person.

It seems unlikely we will agree on this one point but the discussion has been civil. Thanks.

[dirtboy]

If we were discussing Credit Cards there is a much stronger linkage to actual person vs card number and you and I would be in complete agreement.

The linkage is the same.

[SauronOfMordor]

I have worked in printing for 26 years and know all about data mining in mail lists. I had access to the inner workings of Reader's Digest and their huge subscriber database. I too know the dangers of excessive data in the wrong hands.

You can get much more information from dial lists. If you and I call the same numbers, then we are associated somehow. By analysis of who is called, and who calls who, somebody can get a good idea of who your circle of friends are, and many other details about you